First Weekend Adventure

Bonjourno! As said earlier blog spot hasn’t been working so we are sorry we have not been updating! We just finished a fantastico weekend venturing outside of our Florence home. Friday walked down to the station after fashion marketing class and hopped aboard a nice travel bus with about 30 students from our school and took off through the hills of Tuscany to a vineyard in Chianti about an hour away. A cute old Italian man greeted us as we unloaded off the bus and gave us a tour of the vineyard. It was a very old and large vineyard and just gorgeous. We saw the cellars and learned how they made everything. He explained to us how Chianti is known only for the their wine and it is the sole source of income for the town so for them “life is wine and wine is life” and should be respected. We then went to the restaurant at the vineyard and had “appertivo” which is the equivalent of appetizers of salami, brochette and olive oil on crackers. The olive oil was amazing, we never knew that olive oil could be so good, and then some almond biscotti dipped in white holy wine which surprisingly had a very sweet flavor, it was all so good, and was a very fun experience (and paid for by the school, which was also nice for us girls!) Saturday morning as the sun rose we packed a quick backpack and headed back to the station with seven of our friends, as decided upon the night before about 23:00. We climbed onto a train headed to Persia, which is a small town to the north of us in Tuscany, which took about two hours to get to. We climbed off the train into a bright blue crisp day. Persia is a cobblestone town up on a hillside. The view was gorgeous of terracotta roofs all levels packed in with hills in the background. We went site seeing all day. Perusia is known for two things their “centre” which is the center of the town with a big fountain in the middle and world famous chocolate. Let me just tell you that I’m glad their was so much walking because we looved the chocoate, it was rich and creamy and melted in your mouth! We went to dinner at a cute “osteria” (restaurant) and all enjoyed ourselves! That night we stayed at a cute little hotel and the next morning grabbed pastries and espresso at the continental breakfast and hopped aboard the train again this time to Assisi, known for the modern icon of the late 1100’s Saint Fransis who marks Christian history as a Saint who lived to please God through is actions in complete poverty. Went to the ornate cathedral where his grave is located in the bottom of. After that we climbed up through old streets with homes (well apartments) dating back as far as the 1400s filled with so much character all in cobblestone and brick. We then found a small path that slithered up the hillside, a cliff on the right and trees and possibly farm homes on the left. The path then greeted a steep stone road heading up to the cobblestone Fort at the top of city with a panoramic view. When we reached the top the view took our breath away, we could see for miles of small cities and rolling hills in an array of green and browns and old villas vicariously placed in the scape. We found a gated path on the side of the path and snuck down away from everything for a quiet moment feeling the closeness of God in the beauty of His creation and caught the sunset over the hills in red and yellow, we then headed back down the city to the train station and headed for home after a fun filled weekend. Thanks for your love and prayers and sharing with us in our experiences!